1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly for deployment in the chimney flue of a fireplace or the like to guide exhaust gases and smoke from the stovepipe of a fireplace stove or insert into the chimney, and more particularly to such an assembly which is adjustable for deployment in a wide variety of fireplaces having differing dimensions for use in conjunction with a virtually unlimited variety of fireplace inserts or freestanding stoves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has long been recognized that most conventional fireplaces are relatively inefficient in their transmission of radiant heat from wood or other material burned therein into the room or rooms in which such fireplaces are located. It has long been known that a substantial portion of the heat generated by the burning of combustible materials in a conventional fireplace escapes upwardly through the chimney above the fireplace.
Wood-burning stoves and fireplace inserts have gained widespread acceptance and are well known as providing more efficient and economical means for heating interior room spaces using a minimum amount of wood, coal or other fuel, compared to conventional fireplaces.
Conventional fireplace inserts generally provide a firebox or internal burning chamber in which the fuel is burned. The firebox typically has a door or doors on the portion thereof adapted to be disposed in facing relation to the interior of the room to be heated, the doors being used to permit the deposit of fuel in the firebox or the removal of residue therefrom. The insert usually provides an exhaust stovepipe projecting from the predetermined top portion thereof to permit the escape of smoke and other exhaust from the interior of the firebox. In use, the fireplace insert is deployed with all or a substantial portion of the firebox disposed within the fireplace and the stovepipe in substantially axial alignment with the chimney flue for the escape of exhaust upwardly through the chimney.
While conventional fireplace inserts and the like have proven to be effective for their intended purposes, the manner in which exhaust gases are conducted from the interior of the firebox to the chimney presents several drawbacks and dangers. The stovepipes of most conventional fireplace inserts are normally of a substantially lesser external dimension than the internal dimension of the chimney flue of the fireplace in which the insert is disposed. Therefore, cold air in the chimney above the stovepipe outlet opening can flow by the stovepipe downwardly into the fireplace and into the room in which the fireplace is situated, when the damper is open. Further, cold air in the chimney, combined with creosote and soot build-up along the chimney surfaces, can result in the backing up of exhaust gases and smoke discharged from the firebox through the stovepipe whereby such gases and smoke can backwash into the fireplace interior surrounding the firebox and from there into the room. The gases contained in the stovepipe exhaust pose a potential danger in the event they collect about the firebox where, due to exposure to the extreme heat of the firebox exterior, they can ignite explosively. Such explosive combustion has been known to dislodge the fireplace insert from the fireplace and it is obvious an explosion of such a sort presents a very real fire hazard and risk of harm to persons and property. Still further, the smoke and particulate matter contained in the exhaust from the firebox is known to accumulate about the interior of the fireplace to form a layered deposit on the surfaces thereof. Thus, periodic cleaning of the fireplace and flue surfaces, which is a dirty and time-consuming job, is necessary.
Therefore, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have an assembly adapted for use with a wood-burning stove or fireplace insert that would insure that gases and particulate matter, such as smoke, exhausted from the firebox of the insert or stove would be conducted into a communicating chimney without possibility of return to the fireplace in which such stove or insert is disposed. Moreover, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have such an assembly which is adapted for use with myriad different fireplace inserts having stovepipes of varying dimensions and configurations regardless of the chimney flue dimensions of the fireplace in which such fireplace insert or stove is deployed, to interconnect the flue and stovepipe to define a path of flow of exhaust directly from the stovepipe to the chimney.